Coming soon: StarCraft 2 controlled with your iPhone

I like this idea a lot -- developer Daniel Hellerman is working on an app for the App Store that will interface with a Windows client to control Blizzard's StarCraft 2 real-time strategy game. The RTS Gameboard for StarCraft 2 is an app, downloadable starting in September on the App Store (assuming it's approved by Apple), that will purportedly let you control your units and buildings through the iPad and iPhone's touchscreen interface. The app promises "mini-map control, detailed unit statistics, and easy touch access to the games most important hotkeys and macros."

Sounds good, right? Too good to be true, probably -- unfortunately, the app only works with a Windows client running on the game's PC, so this won't work if you've been playing StarCraft 2 on your Mac (although Boot Camp should work ok, assuming the app does what it is supposed to). And then there's Blizzard Entertainment -- while it's definitely interested in Apple's iOS platform, it's not quite so hot on allowing third-party programs that access and control its games. If Blizzard follows past precedent, the odds of this reaching the App Store (especially in a paid form) are slim to none.

But we'll see -- while we'd much rather have Blizzard release a port of the original StarCraft on the iPad, a half-step like this might be fun, too. Hellerman says the app is due out by September, so we'll see if he can beat all of the obstacles that seem to be in his way.